


Autumn Bliss

by Novantinuum (ChromaticDreams)



Series: Brandishing the Star: A Crystal Gem's Guide to the Universe (SU shorts) [5]
Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Autumn, Canon Compliant, Childhood, Drabble, Fluff, Gen, Implied Connie Maheswaran/Steven Universe, Kids being cute
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-06
Updated: 2019-11-06
Packaged: 2021-01-24 08:29:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 546
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21335260
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChromaticDreams/pseuds/Novantinuum
Summary: Is there any better way to spend a crisp autumn day than playing around in piles of leaves?Written for Connvember, day 1.
Relationships: Connie Maheswaran & Steven Universe
Series: Brandishing the Star: A Crystal Gem's Guide to the Universe (SU shorts) [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1491011
Comments: 6
Kudos: 76





	Autumn Bliss

**Author's Note:**

> Set mid s1B.
> 
> Based on day one’s [Connvember](https://mauvue.tumblr.com/post/188754523520/i-saw-stevineltober-going-around-so-i-decided-to) prompt, challenge created by mauvue on tumblr!
> 
> I may write a few more throughout the month, but since I'm not doing every day they will be posted as separate stories.

Connie’s laughter rings clear as a bell as she runs through the pile of leaves in front of her parents’ condo. The sky is an cloudless azure blue. The air is crisp, cold enough to nip at her skin and draw misty clouds from between her lips as she exhales. The leaves— a mix of red, brown, and golden yellow in color— crunch underfoot, every step filled with endless satisfaction.

It truly is a perfect autumn day.

Steven gleefully chases after her, clad in his puffy winter coat and his yellow wellies, scarf rippling in waves behind him. Giggling, he tosses a handful of leaves at her. They scatter like confetti. She throws her hands up to shield her face from the playful onslaught.

“Leaf shower!” her best friend exclaims, his grin positively contagious.

“Oh, I’ll show _you_ a leaf shower,” she says, brimming with mischief as she squats to gather a great big cluster of leaves in her arms. She jumps up at him like a spring, dumping her load atop his head.

”Noooo,” he cries, laughing as a bunch of them get caught in his dark curls.

”Muahaha, you can’t escape now!”

They case each other in circles, round and round and round, shuffling with wide steps through the endless mass of leaves until it makes her dizzy. Then, Steven trips, his foot likely meeting with the obscured curb. He knocks into her legs as he falls forward, accidentally causing her to lose balance and tumble to the ground too.

She lays there for a moment, entangled with her best friend, and gasping for lungfuls of fresh, crisp air to help stop her head from spinning. Her long dark hair pools across the leaves’ surface. At her side, Steven starts chuckling again. It starts low, a quiet rumble in his chest she can _feel_ as she's lying there on the ground with him, until it blooms into the full-bodied, boyish laugh she adores. Gently, she rolls off of him, joining him in his joy as she sneakily tosses more leaves at his grinning face. He returns in kind.

Soon enough, it’s an all-out war, both kids throwing as many leaves at each other as they can while sitting in the midst of the mess.

“Connie, Steven!” her mom calls, leaning out from the front door. “Come in to wash for dinner! And- get up out of those leaves, young lady,” she chides, crossing her arms. “You’re gonna soil your sweater.”

Connie scrambles to her feet in an instant and frantically brushes crushed bits of leaves off the cable knit fabric. More delayed, her friend follows suit, clambering to his knees. He’s the very image of wide-eyed innocence, that’s for sure.

Her mother side glances at the poor half-Gem for a moment as if she’s considering chastising him for the very same transgression, but presumably decides against it. He’s not her kid, after all.

Once she safely out of earshot, Steven turns to her, cheeks reddened with shame. “Sorry, that was my fault,” he whispers.

Connie rolls her eyes. “Nah, it’s nothing you did. She always nags about dumb stuff like that.” Smirking, she adjusts her lensless glasses on the bridge of her nose. “Y’see, the trick is not letting her _catch_ me getting dirty!”


End file.
